Update

So what have I been doing all this time? Not writing my blog, obviously. No posts for three months? Have I given up?

No.

Think of it as the three-quarters crisis. You know, that part in a movie when everything is speeding along just a bit too easily for our hero, and the plot throws in a few surprises just to spice things up before the big climax? Well, I've been a bit distracted these past few months, and this blog was the first to suffer my attention's redirection.

I am still visiting theaters, and am on track. I've visited eighty-six different theaters to see one hundred movies, easily besting my previous record from 2007 of seventy-nine theater visits. My original goal for this year, before the idea of this blog was suggested to me, was merely to go to the movies a hundred times, regardless of repeating theaters. That goal has now been met. But the glorious goal of visiting so many different theaters is still alive and quite near.

Though I had hoped to make a comprehensive visit of all the theaters in the Bay Area, with time getting shorter I am now reverting to my first, more modest goal of merely visiting a hundred. This will leave several multiplexes, fringe spaces, and entire cities off my map, unfortunately. At the end of the year I'll try to list all the theaters I never made it to.

So, about this blog. I've been taking pictures of the theaters, and keeping notes from my visits, all with the intention of eventually catching up here. However, I'm just getting further behind the closer to my goal I get. Therefore I hope to soon enact a change in content to help speed things along, with the change being toward fewer words per entry. Although I've sensed that the movie reviews have been the most enjoyable for my readers, I am most interested in posting information about the various theaters I visit, and documenting what I can about the experience of going to the movies, so that I might create as useful and enduring a snapshot of the present as I can. There are innumerable reviews of these movies elsewhere, so my current thinking is that I'll skimp on the movie reviews, and just throw up a few brief notes, rather than trying to do the movie justice.

I've seen some great movies in the past few months, partly because with fewer visits, I've concentrated just on the ones I knew I'd like. Most have already left the theaters, so my reviews will be too delayed to get you to buy a ticket, but they might inspire a rental. I have five four-star and five five-star movies in the hopper, including what is now my favorite movie of the year. Can you guess what it is? Here's a hint: it's not The Expendables.

If you're still reading, thanks for sticking around.